Back to Boulder: Spectralink returning home after 6-year absence

After sale from Polycom, firm reinvents itself, seeks new home

Spectralink engineer Frank Carpenter works on phone software at the company's temporary facility in Westminster last week.
(
David R. Jennings
)

Nearly six years after it was snapped up by telecommunication firm Polycom and quietly shuttled out to Westminster, Boulder-bred Spectralink is coming back to its hometown.

The wireless handset maker -- having been sold to a Florida-based private equity firm two months ago -- is relocating its North American headquarters to Boulder, officials for Spectralink disclosed to the Daily Camera.

Come April, the new Spectralink plans to move roughly 100 employees to Boulder from Westminster. Company officials declined to disclose the location of the new office, noting some aspects of that transaction were not finalized.

The company's heritage -- it was founded here in 1990 -- combined with the presence of the University of Colorado and the region's strong tech community were huge draws, said Sten Dyrmose, Spectralink's chief executive officer.

"We want to stay in a place that has some attitude," he said.

The return of "an old friend" is a nice vote of confidence for Boulder's tech community, said John Tayer, CEO of the Boulder Chamber.

"We're excited to have the opportunity to have them back as part of one of our early technology spin-offs that now is in a new stage of growth," Tayer said. "We welcome them back."

Although much of the core team from the "old Spectralink" days remain, the firm that is returning to Boulder is expected to be quite a bit different from its days here and after it was sold to Polycom for $220 million.

At that time, Spectralink generated $145 million in revenues.

After the acquisition, Polycom created the Enterprise Wireless Voice Solutions product line for Spectralink and Kirk Telecommunications, a Danish firm acquired by the Boulder company in 2005 for $64 million.

Although the business was "quite profitable," it generated $94 million in revenues for Polycom in 2011, Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt wrote in a research report in May 2012 when Polycom announced the plan to sell its Enterprise Wireless business to Sun Capital for roughly $110 million.

Spectralink test engineer Sunil Shrestha takes a phone apart for testing at the temporary facility in Westminster. Spectralink is moving back to Boulder later this year.
(
David R. Jennings
)

"Clearly, Polycom is looking to streamline its business to focus more on core UC product lines and to return value to shareholders with cash proceeds from the sale of this non-core business," McCourt wrote.

'Sleeping beauty'

Polycom's decision to sell Spectralink landed the company in the hands of a firm with deep pockets and an interest in boosting the business.

"We've been a sleeping beauty for five years," Dyrmose said. "We never fit in Polycom and (Polycom) knew that ... We're almost grateful that Polycom let us go."

Spectralink now has the backing of Sun Capital Partners Inc., a Boca Raton, Fla.-based private investment firm that has invested in more than 315 companies worldwide since its founding in 1995. Its diverse portfolio -- which ranges from textiles and chemical firms to restaurants and retailers -- includes the likes of The Limited, Boulder-based American Rec, Boston Market and Hickory Farms.

Officials for Sun Capital could not be reached for comment Friday.

Spectralink represents the equity firm's first tech play, which bodes well for the operation, Dyrmose said. Spectralink has Sun Capital's backing and blessing.

"We've got the grace from Sun to find out feet," he said.

This includes both an organic and inorganic growth plans during the coming three years.

"We're really going to go out and disrupt the market," he said.

Not disclosing specific guidance, Dyrmose said that his firm should "significantly" beat the industry's growth projection of 10 percent.

Spectralink plans to bolster its worldwide headcount by 50 people in 2013. The Boulder site could be roughly 120 people in size by the end of the year.

Now a startup

As a result of the sale to Sun Capital, Spectralink -- a company with more than 20 years of operating history in Colorado -- essentially became a startup. At the same time, Spectralink also has the benefit of 20 years in the field and the presence of many employees of the original iteration of the firm, he said.

Michelle Chessler hangs Spectralink's new logo in a conference room at the company's temporary facility in Westminster.
(
David R. Jennings
)

Since company officials got the go-ahead Dec. 4 that the transaction went through, Spectralink has worked to disentangle its operations from Polycom and establish a standalone firm.

Officials created essential departments and operations such as payroll; developing a new logo, brand and culture; and changing the entirety of the company's focus. The tagline that once was "wireless at work" now is "solving every day."

"It's a completely unique experience," Dyrmose said.

That includes repositioning the product line, developing technologies and offerings based on customer needs, and integrating more software-oriented applications. Spectralink's target markets will remain health care and retail, he said.

"It's not that we can't do other stuff," he said. " ... We have a big task in focusing the company and not getting overwhelmed and going nowhere."

'Doing it the hard way'

After the buyout of Kirk Telecommunications and throughout Polycom's reign, Kirk and Spectralink operated as two separate entities.

That changes under the new Spectralink.

The two operations will be fully integrated, allowing for the Spectralink-branded line of products to be sold through Europe and bringing Kirk products to North America.

Dyrmose related the approach of Spectralink's evolution to the recently announced efforts to broadly rebrand the state of Colorado. Gov. John Hickenlooper announced plans last month to have a group of business executives -- among them Dyrmose -- go through a variety of avenues and sources to determine "what is Colorado?"

"We're doing it the hard way because we want to do it the right way," he said of Spectralink's moves.

The fruits of Spectralink officials' initial labor should be mostly on display in the coming weeks and coincide with the 2013 HIMSS health care conference and trade show slated for March 3 through 7 in New Orleans.

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